Every Themepark needs a River Rapids ride and Disneyland California example is the Grizzly River Run. A short but pretty fast-flowing Rapid ride that is themed around the northern California forest parks. While a firm family favorite, find out if this version of the popular rafting ride is worth your time in our Grizzly River Run Review.
- Location – Disney California Adventure – Grizzly Peak
- Type – River Rapids Ride
- Duration – 7:20+ Mins
- Height Restriction – 42 In
- Average Queue time – 5 mins – 40 Mins
- Fastpass – Yes
- Single Rider – Yes
- Additional Info – Fun Family Ride – Moderate Soaking!
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Thrill Rating
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Fun
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Smoothness And Comfort
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Uniqueness and Theming
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Value For Time
What Is Grizzly River Run
The Grizzly River Run is Disneyland’s River Rapids ride. The ride is a classic river Rapids ride where 8 riders navigate white water rapids and steep plunges while attempting to either stay dry or cool off, depending on the weather. Set in the Grizzly peaks section of the park the ride takes riders through the mountains and forests of Northern California.
Queue And Theme
Themed around the many National Parks of California, notably the mountainous coniferous forests of northern California. There are mature trees conifer trees and white granite boulders and peaks rising up, making the whole area reminiscent of the northern wildernesses of the state.
The Queue meanders around the large Goldrush Era logging shed. Queue times vary drastically based on the time of day and weather. Cool mornings normally show 5min waits but on hot sunny days, the queues get pretty big. On hot weekend days expect Big Queues and consider a Genie+ reservation to minimize a big queue. Hitting the ride early before the queues build can mean a long day in wet pants!
Single Rider
The single-rider queue moves pretty quickly as there are often free spots on boats as they take 8 people per trip. However, this ride is not well suited to single riders as a lot of the fun is watching friends and family getting soaked!
Ride Experience – How Wet Will We Get?
The Ride is your basic River Rapids ride in 8-man boats designed to simulate a rafting trip down a raging river. You start out on the large loading carousel before heading up the large would conveyor lift hill. From here the rafts begin the steady descent down the main flow.
There are two sets of rapids both with a good chance of soaking if you luck out on the wrong spot on the boat, normally hitting a wave backward with the water flowing over the side and into your lap, and soaking into your seat. The first set of rapids comes straight away as you take the white water through several bends and a large eery tunnel with howls from what may be a bear or possibly a Bigfoot…
After this, you hit the first of two drops where you are guaranteed a good splash but again the extent depends on your boat position. While recovering from that you hit another tunnel and another chance of getting a soaking through the next rapids which are pretty intense.
Finally, you line up for the main drop. A clever system holds you just above the drop to amp up the trepidation. This also catches the boat and causes it to spin during the drop almost guaranteeing a bit of sogginess for everyone. Finally, the boat ends up in the hot springs where the warm blue water shimmer and geysers erupt.
Overall
The Grizzly River Run is a really fun example of the River Rapids-style ride. One of the better examples of this type of ride. The theme is excellent and really transports you to the Sacramento river valley for your run. The unique spinning elements of the drop help make the ride refreshing and also more evenly distributes the soaking.
The run is quite short but it’s pretty intense and provides the chance for a pretty solid soaking without guaranteeing you will be walking like you have wet yourself for the rest of the day. This type of ride is a real family favorite and most people will get a kick out of the ride, but riding in family or friend groups is always best as you can laugh at the one member who always gets soaked…unless that is you of course…
Have Yor Say
Have You ridden the Grizzly River Run? What did you think of it? How do you think it compares to other rapids’ Rides? How wet did you and your family get? Whatever you have to say let us know in the comments below and if you have any questions about the ride fire away, we love hearing from you.